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Blatteau: "If we can't be safe in our buildings, what else matters here?"
(Updated) The president of the city’s teachers union has filed a state workplace safety complaint against the public school district for persistent problems with mold, leaks, air quality, and other conditions concerns at New Haven’s two largest high schools.
New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT) President Leslie Blatteau provided that update Monday evening during the Board of Education’s latest regular full meeting, which was held in person at John C. Daniels School in the Hill and online via Zoom.
Blatteau revealed that she had filed a complaint against New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) with the state Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Jan. 9.
The formal complaint concerns unsafe building conditions at Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse High Schools, including concerns around mold, leaks, air quality, HVAC, and pests.
Blatteau filed the complaint on Jan. 8. NHPS had until Monday to investigate the alleged conditions and report its findings back to OSHA and make any necessary corrections, or else the state may initiate its own investigation.
Click here and here to read Jan. 9 letters sent by OSHA to the superintendent acknowledging that Blatteau had filed the complaint, and giving the district until Monday to conduct its own investigation.
“Right now, after the last two Mondays in New Haven Public Schools, I’m struggling to find the positives and struggling to work with a strengths-based approach right now,” Blatteau said. She raised concerns about icy parking lots, snow-covered sidewalks, cold classrooms, and other snow-removal problems the district has experienced during recent snowstorms and other bouts of cold weather. “What we are looking at right now with the past two Mondays and the state of our facilities in our schools is neglect.”
Update: Reached for comment Tuesday, NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent that, last fall, the district addressed the various mold, air quality, and pest concerns that were at the center of Blatteau’s complaints. “Furthermore, follow-up inspections conducted of the spaces cited in the complaints showed no evidence of recurrence,” he added.
Harmon also referred to a presentation NHPS operations consultant Mike Carter gave at Monday’s meeting about how the district is working to improve its oversight of snow plow contractors. “I think the most important response was embedded in Michael Carter’s report,” Harmon wrote on Tuesday. “We agree that the snow clearing has been inadequate. It certainly has not risen to the level we need to ensure the safety of students and staff. We are stepping up our monitoring and will work to ensure better outcomes in the short- and long-term.”
The state Department of Labor did not provide an update on the status of this complaint by the publication of this article.
“We’re concerned about the health and safety of the people who spend the majority of their time there,” Blatteau added, during her remarks at Monday’s school board meeting. “We can’t teach if we’re injured or sick. And our students can’t learn and attend school if they’re injured or sick.”
While NHFT plans to continue its advocacy this week in Bridgeport and Hartford, fighting to get fully funded schools throughout the state, Blatteau said, “We need reassurance from you all that that money is going to be spent well, that our students and staff and our schools will be prioritized.”
She concluded by demanding action from the district to repair schools, settle its contracts with hospitality workers and paraprofessionals, end outside contracts that aren’t working, and meet NHPS’ climate resolution demands passed two years ago.
“If we can’t access our buildings safely, if we can’t be safe in our buildings,” she asked, “what else matters here?”